George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, conservative American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... A columnist is a journalist who produces a specific form of writing for publication called a column. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and the Internet. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Education and early career

Will was born in Champaign, Illinois, the son of Frederick L. Will and Louise Hendrickson Will.[1] Fred was a respected professor of philosophy, specializing in epistemology, at the University of Illinois. Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... It has been suggested that Meta-epistemology be merged into this article or section. ...

George graduated from University Laboratory High School of Urbana, Illinois, and attended Trinity College, in Hartford, Connecticut (B.A.). He received his M.A. from the University of Oxford and his Ph.D. in political science from Princeton University. His 1968 Ph.D. dissertation was entitled Beyond the Reach of Majorities: Closed Questions in the Open Society. University Laboratory High School is a laboratory school located on the campus of the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois, that has students from 8th grade (roughly age 13) through 12th grade. ... Trinity College is a private liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. ... Nickname: Location in Hartford County, Connecticut Coordinates: , Country United States State Connecticut NECTA Hartford Region Capitol Region Named 1637 Incorporated (city) 1784 Consolidated 1896 Government  - Type Mayor-council  - Mayor Eddie Perez Area  - City  18. ... Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area  Ranked 48th  - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 km²)  - Width 70 miles (113 km)  - Length 110 miles (177 km)  - % water 12. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ...

Will then taught political philosophy at James Madison College, at Michigan State University, and at the University of Toronto. He taught at Harvard University in 1995 and again in 1998. From 1970 to 1972, he served on the staff of Senator Gordon Allott (R-CO). James Madison College (often abbreviated to JMC or simply Madison) is a college of public affairs and international relations within Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. ... Michigan State University (MSU) is a co-educational public research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act. ... The University of Toronto (U of T) is a coeducational public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal      The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the... Gordon Llewellyn Allott (January 2, 1907 – January 17, 1989) was a Republican American politician. ... The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ...

Will has three children with his first wife, Madeleine. One of these children, Jon, was born with Down syndrome, which Will has written about in his column on occasion.[2] Will married former Reagan presidential speechwriter and Bob Dole communications director Mari Maseng in 1991. They have one child, a son named David, and live in the Washington D.C. area. § Robert Joseph Dole (born July 22, 1923) was a United States Senator from Kansas from 1969-1996, serving part of that time as United States Senate Majority Leader. ...

Career in journalism

Will served as an editor for the conservative magazine National Review from 1973 to 1976. He joined the Washington Post Writers Group in 1974, writing a syndicated twice-weekly column, which became widely circulated among newspapers across the country. In 1976, he became a contributing editor for Newsweek, writing a biweekly backpage column. As of 2007, Will still writes both columns. National Review (NR) is a biweekly magazine of political opinion, founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ... ... The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ...

Will was widely praised by liberals for condemning the corruption of the Nixon presidency. he won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for "distinguished commentary on a variety of topics" in 1977. Often combining factual reporting with conservative commentary, Will's columns are known for their erudite vocabulary, allusions to political philosophers, and frequent references to baseball. The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary has been awarded since 1970. ... A view of the playing field at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. ...

Will has also written two best-selling books on the game of baseball, three books on political philosophy, and has published eleven compilations of his columns for the Washington Post and Newsweek and of various book reviews and lectures.

George Will on the panel of NBC-TV's Meet the Press, November 9, 1975.

Will has also appeared as a news analyst for ABC since the early 1980s and was a founding member on the panel of ABC's This Week with David Brinkley in 1981 (now titled This Week with George Stephanopolous). Will was also a regular panelist on television's Agronsky & Company from 1977 through 1984 and on NBC's Meet the Press in the middle and late 1970s. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Meet the Press (MTP) is a weekly television news show produced by NBC. It started as a radio show in 1945 as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, originating from WRC-AM in Washington. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... This Week is one of the five network U.S. Sunday morning political talk shows. ... David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was a popular American television newscaster for two different USA television networks, NBC, and later, ABC. From 1956 through 1970 he co-anchored NBCs top rated nightly news program, The Huntley–Brinkley Report with Chet Huntley. ... George Stephanopoulos (born February 10, 1961) is an American broadcaster and politician. ... The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Meet the Press (MTP) is a weekly television news show produced by NBC. It started as a radio show in 1945 as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, originating from WRC-AM in Washington. ...

Controversy

Will's detractors point to what they call a troubling pattern of ethical lapses. Will helped Ronald Reagan prepare for his 1980 debate against Jimmy Carter, breaking with the journalistic tradition of neutrality. Immediately after the debate, Will—who was not a member of the ABC News staff—appeared on ABC's Nightline. He was introduced by host Ted Koppel, who said "It's my understanding that you met for some time yesterday with Governor Reagan," and that Will "never made any secret of his affection" for the Republican candidate. It was not explicitly disclosed that Will had assisted with or been present during Reagan's debate preparation. Will went on to praise Reagan, saying his "game plan worked well. I don't think he was very surprised" (Nightline Special Edition, October 28, 1980). Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ... ABC News Special Report ident, circa 2006 ABC News is a division of American television and radio network ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Company. ... Nightline is a late-night hard and soft news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. ... Photo by Bob DAmico/ABC Ted Koppel, anchor of the ABC News program Nightline. ... is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Twenty-four years later, appearing on an NPR program, Carter stated that before the 1980 debate, Will gave the Reagan campaign a top-secret briefing book stolen from Carter's office (Fresh Air, October 21, 2004). According to a report, he repeated this accusation in 2005 (The Alabama Plainsman, July 28, 2005). In a 2005 syndicated column, Will called his role in Reagan's debate preparation "inappropriate" but denied any role in stealing the briefing book. As he had done to Carter privately, Will wrote in his column that he gave the book a "cursory glance" and found it a "crashing bore and next to useless—for [Carter], or for anyone else" (Washington Post, August 11, 2005). In response to the column, Carter wrote a letter to the Washington Post retracting his accusations. Carter apologized to Will for "any incorrect statement that I have ever made about his role in the use of my briefing book ... I have never thought Mr. Will took my book" (Washington Post, August 31, 2005). NPR logo For other meanings of NPR see NPR (disambiguation) National Public Radio (NPR) is a private, not-for-profit corporation that sells programming to member radio stations; together they are a loosely organized public radio network in the United States. ... For the Scottish student radio station, see Fresh Air (Edinburgh). ... is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A media watchdog group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, criticized Will in connection with the 1996 election, for "commenting on the presidential race while his second wife, Mari Maseng Will, was a senior staffer for the Dole presidential campaign," including commenting on a Dole speech without disclosing that his wife had helped write it. Will previously served on an informal board of advisors to Hollinger International, a newspaper company controlled by Canadian-born British financier Lord Black. The board met once a year and Will received an annual payment of $25,000. The board was disbanded in 2001. In March, 2003, Will wrote a syndicated column which praised a speech by Black and did not disclose their previous business relationship. Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), is a media criticism organization based in New York, New York, founded in 1986. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... § Robert Joseph Dole (born July 22, 1923) was a United States Senator from Kansas from 1969-1996, serving part of that time as United States Senate Majority Leader. ... Hollinger International is the holding company of a Chicago based newspaper group. ... Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, PC, OC, KCSG (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a former financier, newspaper magnate, and biographer. ...

Criticism of the Bush administration

George Will served as one of the opponents within the Beltway media of the nomination of Harriet Miers to the United States Supreme Court. For the American political term, see Inside the Beltway and Beltway bandits. ... Harriet Ellan Miers (born August 10, 1945 in Dallas, Texas) is an American lawyer, and former White House Counsel. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States...

Will has also recently expressed reservations about the policies the Bush administration has chosen to pursue with respect to Iraq, and has become openly critical of what he perceives to be an unrealistically optimistic set of political scenarios outlined by the White House.

In March 2006, in a column penned in the aftermath of the apparently sectarian bombing of the Askariya Shrine, Will challenged the Bush administration—and the representatives of the U.S. government stationed in Iraq—to be more honest about the difficulties the United States faced in rebuilding and maintaining order within Iraq, comparing the White House's rhetoric unfavorably to that of Winston Churchill during the early years of World War II. The optimistic assessments delivered by the Bush administration were described by Will as the "rhetoric of unreality."[3] Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination, it also usually involves a rejection of those not a member of ones sect. ... The Al Askari Mosque in Samarra before and after the February 2006 bombing. ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Will repeated this criticism of the Bush Iraq policy and broader White House and congressional foreign and domestic policymaking, as part of his keynote address for the Cato Institute's 2006 Milton Friedman Prize dinner.[4] The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institutes stated mission is to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace by striving to achieve greater involvement... Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was a prominent American economist and public intellectual. ...

Awards

In addition to more than 15 honorary degrees:

• 1977—Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
• 1978—Headliner Award for consistently outstanding feature columns
• 1979—Finalist for National Magazine Award in essays and criticism
• 1980—Silurian Award for editorial writing
• 1991—Silurian Award for editorial writing
• 1991—First Place in Interpretive Columns: Clarion Awards from Women in Communications
• 1991—Cronkite Award, Arizona State University
• 1992—Madison Medal Award, Princeton University
• 1993—William Allen White Award, William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas
• 2003—Walter B. Wriston Lecture Award, The Manhattan Institute
• 2006—Champion of Liberty Award, Goldwater Institute (http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_can_we_make_iraq.html)

The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary has been awarded since 1970. ...

Works

• The Pursuit of Happiness and Other Sobering Thoughts. Harper & Row, 1978.
• The Pursuit of Virtue and Other Tory Notions. Simon & Schuster, 1982.
• Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does. Simon & Schuster, 1983.
• The Morning After: American Success and Excesses, 1981–1986. Free Press, 1986.
• The New Season: A Spectator's Guide to the 1988 Election. Simon & Schuster, 1987.
• Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball. Macmillan, 1990.
• Suddenly: The American Idea Abroad and at Home. Free Press, 1990.
• Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and the Recovery of Deliberative Democracy. 1992.
• The Woven Figure: Conservatism and America's Fabric: 1994–1997. Scribner, 1997.
• Bunts: Pete Rose, Curt Flood, Camden Yards and Other Reflections on Baseball. Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• With a Happy Eye But...: America and the World, 1997–2002. Free Press, 2002.

References

1. "Triumph of (George) Will: When Media Might Makes Right", Media Beat, March 8, 2001
2. "Briefing Book Baloney", Washington Post, August 10, 2005 (Will's column rebutting briefing book allegation)
3. President Carter interview, Fresh Air, Thursday October 21, 2004 (Carter alleges Will's role in briefing book theft, about 28:30 into the interview)
4. Auburn paper: http://www.theplainsman.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/07/28/42e82902e1f1f
5. Carter Letter: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/30/AR2005083001763.html
6. What We Owe What We Eat: Why, Matthew Scully asks, is cruelty to a puppy appalling and cruelty to livestock by the billions a matter of social indifference? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8525632/site/newsweek/

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

George Will

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Biography

• Biography at the Washington Post Writers Group
• Biography from Newsweek
• Biography from ABC Medianet

Works

• Archives from the Washington Post
• Columns from Newsweek
• Column Archives from October 1999 to the present

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